The Greens respond to PILCH election priorities

PILCH's Election Priority 1 - Access to Justice

Access to justice is one of the central planks of the Green's Justice Policy. As part of the Greens commitment to radically increase legal aid funding, we would increase availability for interpretative services at all procedural stages in which an individual must interact with the law.

In the next Parliament, the Greens will work with the other parties and the legal community to secure amendments to Victoria's civil procedure laws to give the judiciary explicit discretion to grant protective costs orders and remove indemnity costs in public interest claims. This is a real priority to allow for litigants without the necessary resources to act for the public interest without fear of financial ruin.

We also support PILCH's campaign to increase pro bono work in Victoria by amending practicing certificates in the Legal Profession Act to allow corporate and government 'in-house' lawyers to act pro bono. The current Commonwealth reforms could take many years and do not even guarantee the necessary changes in practicing certificates. We believe Victoria's legislation should be amended to conform with Queensland and NSW early in the new Parliamentary session.

We will work to ensure Victoria has comprehensive laws to prevent the use of litigation for non-legal purposes to stifle legitimate public debate.

PILCH's Election Priority 2: Homelessness

Improving housing options and services

The Greens believe that housing is a human right and a prerequisite to social equity, and a productive and sustainable society. While the federal government's target of halving homelessness by 2020 is a step in the right direction, the Victorian Greens Housing policy's principal goal is the elimination of all homelessness.

To deliver affordable homes, the Greens support the use of explicit housing targets to provide additional social housing each year, using Commonwealth and state funds. We support:

• The establishment of a capital fund to invest in 29,000 new low-cost dwellings to meet a 5% target of all housing stock by 2014. This will require constant reinvestment to ensure maintenance of the target;
• Changes to planning provisions, requiring any new development to incorporate affordable housing;
• Funding for affordable housing under the federal government's National Affordability Scheme.

We will continue to advocate for measures to ensure a better start for children and young people experiencing homelessness, increased and better targeted support services, and investment in the homelessness workforce.

For more information, please see The Greens' full submission to the 'It takes a home' campaign at www.ittakesahome.org.au.

Improve infringement system

In response to the expansion of infringement notices implemented by the Infringements and Other Acts Amendment Bill (2008), the Greens expressed concerns that the expansion would disproportionately affect the disadvantaged, who are also less likely to challenge the notice, and place a strain on community legal centres, as Legal Aid is not available for infringement notices except in limited circumstances.  We believe that introducing a spent conviction scheme is a more just and effective measure to address the stigma of a criminal record. Like PILCH, the Greens are concerned about the financial hardship that results from the infringements, and believe that Infringements Act should be more responsive to clients with special circumstances. We have called for a review of the infringements system to ascertain whether the intellectually disabled, homeless, and other disadvantaged people are unfairly impacted.

Repeal public space offences

The Greens support the removal of public space offences which are unnecessary, disproportionate, and unfairly impact on disadvantaged people. Throughout the last parliamentary term, the Greens either voted against or moved to amend bills which introduced or expanded public space offences. These included:

• An increase in penalties for public drunkenness when the government has previously promised to remove the offence entirely
• The introduction of the new offence of 'disorderly conduct'
• The introduction of "stop and search" and "move on" powers
• The ability to conduct random searches and strip searches of children and people with impaired intellectual functioning without an independent third person
• Increased power for transport 'authorised officers' to use 'reasonable force' to apprehend people caught with graffiti implements.

PILCH's Election Priority 3 - Supporting Community Organisations

The Greens in both state and federal Parliaments are dedicated to reducing the regulatory burden that the not-for-profit sector endures. We will work in both jurisdictions to ensure nationally consistent rules for the operation and fundraising responsibilities of not for profits. We support PILCH's call for a single, national regulator.

In the next term of Parliament, the Greens will continue to work with PILCH to simplify the Associations Incorporation Actso that it is user-friendly and accessible for community groups. We have expressed our commitment to working with the next government to achieve these changes. (Hansard, 12 August 2010, 3994).

We also support PilchConnect's request for three year funding to assist not for profit organisations navigate the complex legalities they encounter. We are particularly supportive of their focus on regional and rural organisations and those that assist marginalised and disadvantaged Victorians.

PILCH's Election Priority 4 - Human Rights

Strengthen the Victorian Charter

The Greens in parliament have been a strong advocate for the Victorian Charter of Human Rights and Responsibilities. We are concerned about a trend for legislation to encroach on established human rights. We have regularly raised these concerns about human rights issues in parliament, on many occasions putting forward amendments to protect human rights. The government has introduced several pieces of legislation that it has admitted are "incompatible" with the Charter, particularly in terms of the increase police "stop and search" and "move on" powers.

For the Charter to operate effectively, there needs to be time for community consultation during the scrutiny of legislation. The Greens have been concerned about the many instances where democratic processes have not been followed.  The Sentencing Amendment Bill (2010) was rushed through parliament in two days without a report from the Scrutiny of Acts and Regulations Committee (SARC) on its human rights implications. Many other Bills have passed through parliament without SARC reports being available. Often, the minister may have responded to questions raised by SARC but the response by the Minister is not seen by members of parliament before the bill is passed.  Similarly, responses to groups who have raised concerns in their submissions to SARC are not available to members of parliament. 

The Greens support the incorporation of economic, social and cultural rights into the Charter, improved access to remedies for Charter violations, and the establishment of an independent cause of action. We will continue to work toward strengthening Charter processes, particularly the operation of SARC, to ensure that parliamentary scrutiny of the human rights compliance is effective. 

Extend protections against discrimination

During the passage of the 2010 Equal Opportunity Bill, the Greens moved amendments to include 'irrelevant record' and 'homelessness' as a protected attribute of discrimination, as recommended by the Gardner review. These were not supported by the Liberal or Labor parties.

In 2007, the Greens moved amendments to the Equal Opportunity Amendment Bill to remove exemptions allowing religious schools and business to discriminate, which were blocked by all other parties in the Legislative Council. In 2010, the government missed a valuable opportunity to remove the exemptions for religious schools and organisations, retaining discrimination on the basis of religious belief, marital status, gender identity, and sexual orientation. The Greens moved to remove these exemptions, but our amendments were not supported.   The Greens' Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity policy commits to amending the Equal Opportunity Act to remove exemptions allowing religious organisations and schools to discriminate, and we will continue to pursue this issue in the next parliamentary term.

Strengthen the protection of rights of people with a diminished capacity

People with diminished capacity need stronger protection, including by simplifying laws relating to powers of attorney and improving safeguards against misuse of those laws, empowering courts to make orders protecting litigation guardians from adverse cost awards; and ensuring institutional litigation guardians are adequately funded.

The Summary Offences and Control of Weapons Act Amendment Bill (2009) introduced 'move on' and 'search powers' and the Control of Weapons Amendment Bill (2010), which the government declared to be incompatible with the Charter, took away the requirement for  an independent person to be present during random searches and strip searches of children and people with impaired intellectual functioning. The Greens questioned the need for these powers at all, given that there is no evidence that crime involving knives is increasing and existing police powers to search a person when there is a reasonable suspicion were sufficient.. The increased powers are disproportionate and open to misuse. The Greens voted against the bill, which was supported by all other parties.